CN111917571A

CN111917571A - Policy management method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN111917571A
Application number: CN202010622319.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 夏海涛
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-01-25
Filing date: 2017-01-25
Publication date: 2020-11-10
Anticipated expiration: 2037-01-25
Also published as: US20190349258A1; CN108347343B; US20210075683A1; EP3855680A1; US11611481B2; WO2018137572A1; EP3567803A1; ES2854286T3; CN111917571B; US10855543B2; CN108347343A; EP3567803B1; EP3567803A4

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for policy management. The method includes that a policy decision entity requests an NFVO (Network Function Virtualization editor) of a composite NS (Network Service) management domain to perform management operation on a policy group. The policy group is composed of a LCM (Life Cycle Management) policy of the composite NS and an LCM policy of the nested NS. The method comprises the steps that the NFVO of the composite NS Management domain executes corresponding Management operation on a strategy group, the Management operation comprises the corresponding Management operation on the LCM (Life Cycle Management) strategy of the composite NS of the Management domain, and the Management operation of the NFVO of the nested NS Management domain on the LCM strategy of the nested NS is triggered. By the scheme, the consistency of the LCM strategy of the composite NS and the LCM strategy of the nested NS forming the composite NS is ensured, and the strategy management execution efficiency under the situation of cross-management-domain composite NS is improved.

Description

Policy management method, device and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for policy management in the NFV field.

Background

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is a Virtualization Technology in the field of Information Technology (IT) by a telecommunication Network operator, and performs software and hardware decoupling on the realization of partial telecommunication Network functions in a general cloud server, switch and storage, thereby realizing the rapid and efficient deployment of Network services (NS, Network Service), and achieving the operation goal of saving investment Cost (CAPEX) and operation cost (OPEX). This technique requires that the telecommunications network functions be implemented in software, run on generic server hardware, be migrated, instantiated, deployed as needed at different physical locations on the network, and not require the installation of new equipment.

Deployment of Network Services (NS) there is a scenario where NS is provided across management domains. Such a scenario may occur within a large service provider that provides a global NS through collaboration of branches, or between different service providers that provide NS rental services through a network sharing protocol. Where a global NS is referred to as a composite NS, the composite NS comprises a plurality of nested NS, each nested NS being provided by a different administrative domain than the composite NS. Under the scene of providing the composite NS across the management domain, due to the diversity of functional entities generating or creating the policies, the situation of conflict exists between the policies of different layers or between the policies of the same layer, but the current technology of NFV MANO policy management still remains the management operation facing to a single policy, the implementation of the composite NS policy and the nested NS policy is the same, the requirement of providing the composite NS across the management domain for policy management can not be met, and a new policy management method needs to be provided.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a policy Management method, apparatus, and system, to solve a problem that, in a scenario where a composite NS (Network Service) is provided across Management domains, an LCM (Life Cycle Management) policy of the composite NS is inconsistent with an LCM policy of a nested NS constituting the composite NS or conflicts exist, so as to ensure that the composite NS provides the Network Service as a whole or performs a Life Cycle Management operation of the Network Service as a whole. In the embodiment of the invention, the composite NS refers to one or more nested NS, and the composite NS and the nested NS composing the composite NS are provided in different management domains; the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is responsible for lifecycle management of the composite NS, and the NFVO of the nested NS management domain is responsible for lifecycle management of the nested NS.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for managing an LCM policy of a composite NS and an LCM policy of a nested NS in a scenario where the composite NS is provided across management domains. The method comprises the steps that an LCM strategy of a composite NS and an LCM strategy of a nested NS forming the composite NS are managed according to groups, a strategy decision entity requests an NFVO of a composite NS management domain to carry out strategy management operation on the strategy group, the NFVO of the composite NS management domain bears the function of a strategy execution entity of the composite NS management domain on one hand, strategy management operation is carried out on the LCM strategy of the composite NS according to the strategy management request of the strategy decision entity on the other hand, the NFVO serves as a proxy of the strategy decision entity, and strategy management operation on the LCM strategy of the nested NS in the strategy group is initiated to the NFVO of the management domain where the nested NS forming the composite NS is located according to the received strategy operation request of the strategy decision entity. In the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the strategy management operation of the LCM strategy of the composite NS and the LCM strategy of the nested NS forming the composite NS are from the same strategy decision entity, thus avoiding the inconsistency between the LCM strategy of the composite NS and the LCM strategy of the nested NS forming the composite NS due to the diversity of strategy sources, and ensuring that the composite NS as a whole provides network service; moreover, because the NFVO of the composite NS management domain serves as a proxy of the strategy decision entity, the strategy decision entity does not need to directly issue strategy management operations to the NFVO of each nested NS management domain, the NFVO of the composite NS management domain shares the workload of the strategy decision entity, and the strategy management execution efficiency in the scene of providing the composite NS across the management domains is improved. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the type of the policy management operation requested by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain from the NFVO of the nested NS management domain is the same as the type of the policy management operation requested by the policy decision entity from the NFVO of the composite NS management domain.

In one possible design, when a policy decision entity performs policy management operation on an LCM policy of a composite NS and an LCM policy of a nested NS constituting the composite NS, the policy decision entity sends a policy management operation request to an NFVO of a composite NS management domain, where the policy management operation request includes an identifier of a policy group, and the policy group includes an identifier of the LCM policy of the composite NS and an identifier of the LCM policy of the nested NS constituting the composite NS; the method comprises the steps that an NFVO of a composite NS management domain receives a policy management operation request sent by a policy decision entity, on one hand, policy management operation is carried out on LCM policies of the composite NS in a policy group, on the other hand, the identifier of the LCM policies of nested NS contained in the policy group is determined according to the identifier of the policy group, and the policy management operation request is sent to the NFVO of the nested NS management domain, wherein the request message contains the identifier of the LCM policies of the nested NS. Therefore, the strategy management operation request message of the strategy decision entity carries out strategy management operation on the LCM strategy of the composite NS and the LCM strategy of the nested NS in the strategy group, the source of the strategy management operation is unique, and the consistency among the strategies is ensured. The NFVO of the composite NS management domain serves as a proxy of the strategy decision entity, and the load of the strategy decision entity is shared. Optionally, the policy management operation message sent by the policy decision entity may further include an identifier of the LCM policy of the composite NS, and the NFVO of the composite NS management domain may directly learn, from the received message, the identifier of the LCM policy of the composite NS to be operated, so as to further simplify processing of the NFVO of the composite NS management domain.

In one possible design, when a policy management operation request received by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain includes an identifier of a policy group, the NFVO of the composite NS management domain may use the identifier of the policy group as an indication that a policy decision entity requires policy management operation on a member policy in the policy group, thereby initiating policy management operation on an LCM policy of a nested NS in the policy group; whether to perform policy management operations on the LCM policies of nested NSs in a policy group may also be determined based on local policies.

The strategy group in the embodiment of the invention refers to a set of LCM strategies of a composite NS and one or more nested NS forming the composite NS, and the strategy group comprises an identifier of the LCM strategy of the composite NS and an identifier of the LCM strategy of the nested NS. In one possible design, a policy group may be created by a policy decision entity requesting an NFVO of the composite NS management domain, specifically including: a policy decision entity requesting the NFVO of the composite NS management domain to create a policy group, the request message containing an identification of member policies constituting the policy group, the member policies including the LCM policy of one composite NS and the LCM policies of one or more nested NS constituting the composite NS; the NFVO of the composite NS management domain creates a policy group according to the request message for creating the policy group, allocates an identifier for the policy group, and sends a response message to the policy decision entity, wherein the response message comprises the identifier of the policy group; and the strategy decision entity acquires and records the identifier distributed by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain as the strategy group in the received response message of the request for creating the strategy group sent by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain. Therefore, the policy decision entity and the NFVO of the composite NS management domain both create a record of the policy group, and the record contains the identifier of the policy group and the identifier of the member policy in the policy group. The subsequent policy decision entity only needs to include the identifier of the policy group in the policy management operation request sent to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain, and the NFVO of the composite NS management domain not only performs policy management operation on the LCM policy of the composite NS management domain, but also initiates policy management operation on the LCM policy of the nested NS in the policy group instead of the policy decision entity.

In one possible design, when the policy decision entity does not need to maintain the policy group, such as when the composite NS lifecycle is over, a request message for deleting the policy group operation may be sent to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain, so that the NFVO of the composite NS management domain deletes the policy group of the local record.

In one possible design, the policy management operation on the policy group as described above may include a policy update, a policy delete, a policy activation or a policy deactivation, and so on. By performing the policy activation or deactivation operation on the policy group, the LCM policy of the composite NS and the LCM policy of the nested NS in the policy group can be enabled or disabled at the same time. Through the strategy updating operation of the strategy group, the strategy updating parameters issued by the strategy decision entity are applied to the member strategies in the strategy group, so that the consistency between the LCM strategy of the composite NS and the LCM strategy of the nested NS can be ensured, including the consistency of the trigger conditions and the consistency of the trigger actions in the strategies. The policy deletion operation may cause the policy decision entity to synchronously delete the member policies in the policy group.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a policy decision entity, where the policy decision entity has a function of implementing a policy decision entity behavior in the method described in the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In one possible design, the policy decision entity includes a communication interface, a memory, and a processor. The communication interface is used for sending a request message to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain or receiving a response message from the NFVO of the composite NS management domain; the memory is used for storing computer execution instructions, a policy group identifier and an identifier of a member policy contained in the policy group; the processor, coupled to the memory and the communication interface via the bus, is configured to execute computer-executable instructions in the memory to implement the functionality of the policy decision entity in the method of the first aspect.

In one possible design, the policy decision entity includes a communication module and a processing module. The communication module is used for sending a request message to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain or receiving a response message from the NFVO of the composite NS management domain; the processing module is used for generating a request message of policy management operation and sending the request message through the communication module, wherein the request message of policy management operation contains the identifier of the policy group.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module of the policy decision entity is further configured to generate a request message for creating or deleting a policy group, and send the request message through the communication module, where the request message for creating the policy group includes an identifier of a member policy of the policy group, and the member policy includes an LCM policy of one composite NS and LCM policies of one or more nested NS constituting the composite NS; and the network element is also used for resolving the response message of the NFVO from the composite NS management domain received by the communication module and recording the policy group identification in the response message.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an NFVO of a composite NS management domain, where the NFVO of the composite NS management domain has a function of implementing NFVO behavior of the composite NS management domain in the method according to the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In one possible design, the NFVO of the composite NS management domain includes a communication interface, a memory, and a processor. The communication interface is used for communicating with a strategy decision entity or an NFVO of a nested NS management domain; the memory is used for storing computer execution instructions, a policy group identifier and an identifier of a member policy contained in the policy group; the processor, coupled to the memory and the communication interface via the bus, is configured to execute computer-executable instructions in the memory to implement the functionality of the NFVO of the composite NS management domain in the method according to the first aspect.

In one possible design, the NFVO of the composite NS management domain includes a communication module and a processing module. The communication module is used for receiving a policy management operation request message sent by a policy decision entity and sending the policy management request message to the NFVO of the nested NS management domain; the processing module is configured to parse the received policy management operation request message, determine an identifier of an LCM policy of the nested NS included in the policy group according to the policy group identifier included in the policy management operation request message, and generate a policy management operation request sent to the NFVO of the nested NS management domain, where the request message includes the identifier of the LCM policy of the nested NS.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module of the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is further configured to receive a request message for creating or deleting a policy group from the policy decision entity, and is further configured to send a response message for creating or deleting the policy group to the policy decision entity; the processing module of the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is also used for analyzing the received request message for creating the strategy group, creating the strategy group locally and distributing an identifier for the strategy group; the create policy group request message contains an identification of member policies of a policy group, the member policies including an LCM policy of a composite NS and LCM policies of one or more nested NS that constitute the composite NS; generating a response message of a request for creating a policy group and sending the response message to the policy decision entity through a communication module, wherein the response message of the policy group request contains an identifier of the policy group; the processing module is further configured to parse the request message for deleting the policy group received by the communication module, and delete the corresponding policy group according to the identifier of the policy group in the request message.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a policy management system, including a policy decision entity in the method according to the first aspect or in the apparatus according to the second aspect, and an NFVO of a composite NS management domain in the method according to the first aspect or in the apparatus according to the third aspect.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a readable storage medium for storing computer software instructions for the NFVO of the policy decision entity or the composite NS management domain, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method related to the NFVO of the policy decision entity or the composite NS management domain in the method according to the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.

Drawings

In order to illustrate the embodiments of the invention more clearly, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the invention, and that other drawings may be derived from these drawings by a person skilled in the art without inventive exercise.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible NFV system architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a possible composite NS architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of creating a policy group according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of updating member policies in a policy group according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of deleting a policy group member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a process of activating a member policy in a policy group according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart illustrating deactivation of a member policy in a policy group according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a deletion policy group according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a computer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy decision entity according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an NFVO of a composite NS management domain according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present invention are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and it can be known by those skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

As shown in fig. 1, one possible NFV System (100) includes an OSS/BSS (Operation Support System/Business Support System) (101), an EMS (Element Management System) (102), a VNF (Virtualized Network Function) (103), a NFVI (Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure) (104), and a NFV MANO (NFV Management and organization) (105). The NFV MANO includes a plurality of management Function entities, including NFVO (NFV editor, Network Function virtualization Orchestrator) (106), VNFM (Virtualized Network Function Manager, virtual Network Function Manager) (107), and VIM (Virtualized Infrastructure Manager) (108). Wherein the content of the first and second substances,

OSS/BSS (101): the method is mainly oriented to telecommunication service operators, and provides comprehensive network management and service operation functions, including network management (such as fault monitoring and network information collection), charging management, policy management, customer service management and the like. In the embodiment of the invention, the OSS/BSS takes on the function of a policy decision entity.

NFVO (106): and the Network Service Lifecycle Management (NS LCM) is realized, and the functions of the VNF such as Lifecycle Management are realized by matching with the VNFM.

VNFM (107): the lifecycle management of the virtualized network element VNF is implemented, including management and processing of the VNFD, initialization of the VNF instance, capacity expansion/contraction of the VNF, and termination of the VNF instance. And receiving an elastic scaling (scaling) strategy issued by the NFVO is supported, and the elastic scaling of the VNF is realized.

VIM (108): the method is mainly responsible for management, monitoring and fault reporting of hardware resources and virtualized resources of an infrastructure layer, and provides a virtualized resource pool for upper-layer application.

As shown in fig. 2, one possible architecture for a composite NS provided across administrative domains, there are multiple administrative domains. Wherein each administrative domain contains a set of NFV MANO management function entities as shown in fig. 1, wherein the NFVO is responsible for the provisioning of network services and the management of the network service lifecycle within that administrative domain. The management domain where NFVO-2 is located provides NS-A, the management domain where NFVO-3 is located provides NS-B, the management domain where NFVO-1 is located provides composite NS under the coordination of the management domains where NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 are located, namely NS-A and NS-B are components of the composite NS, and NS-A and NS-B are called nested NS. NFVO-1, NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 form an umbrella-shaped management architecture, NFVO-1 is responsible for the life cycle management of the composite NS, NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 are responsible for the life cycle management of the nested NS, and the NFVO-1, the NFVO-2 and the NFVO-3 communicate through an Or-Or interface. For example, a larger telecommunications carrier's network has a two-layer structure: the network management system comprises a main company network and a plurality of provincial company networks, wherein each subsidiary company network has an own management domain and is provided with an NFVO. NFVO in the head office network corresponds to NFVO-1 in fig. 2; and the NFVO in each provincial corporate network corresponds to NFVO-2 or NFVO-3 in fig. 2. When a telecom operator needs to provide services from the level of a head office network, such as a VoLTE (Voice over LTE) network service, it may be specified that a head office network provides a subscriber management and policy control network service constituting VoLTE, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network service constituting VoLTE is provided by a province sub office network, and an IMS Core network service constituting VoLTE is provided by a province sub office network. Of course, when the actual VoLTE network service is deployed, other network services besides the EPC network service and the IMS core network service may be needed, or other network service combinations may also be needed, which are not described in detail herein.

The policy decision entity in the present application is mapped to fig. 2, and may be an OSS/BSS or an independent policy manager. In the following embodiments of the present application, an OSS is taken as an example to describe how a policy decision entity performs policy collaborative management across management domains, and the described method is also applicable to a scenario in which an independent policy manager is used as the policy decision entity.

Taking the composite NS architecture shown in fig. 2 as an example, the management domains in which the composite NS, the nested NS a, and the nested NS B are located respectively have respective life cycle management policies for the NS, and in the embodiment of the present invention, taking the management policy as an example of an NS cure policy, it is assumed that the NS cure policies of the management domains are respectively:

composite NS cure strategy 1: when the NFVO-1 receives a virtual resource failure alarm with a serious failure level, the member VNF instance (not including the member nested NS instance) of the composite NS instance is migrated to other available standby virtual machines.

Nested NS-A cure strategy 2: when NFVO-2 receives a virtual resource failure alarm with a serious failure level, it will migrate the member VNF instance of the nested NS instance to other available containers.

Nested NS-B cure strategy 3: and when the NFVO-3 monitors that the number of bytes transmitted and received per second of the virtual link is smaller than a preset threshold, migrating the member VNF instance of the nested NS instance to other available standby virtual machines.

It can be seen that, because the composite NS and each nested NS belong to different management domains, there is no unified policy design and planning between the management domains, and in order to ensure the consistency of the composite NS and the nested NS, it is necessary to uniformly manage the LCM policy of the composite NS and the LCM policy of the nested NS. The embodiment of the invention provides a strategy management method, which is characterized in that a LCM strategy of a composite NS and an LCM strategy of a nested NS forming the composite NS are subjected to unified cooperative management according to strategy groups, and NFVO-1 of a composite NS management domain needs to operate the LCM strategy of the composite NS of the management domain on one hand and trigger NFVO-2 of a management domain of the nested NS forming the composite NS to perform cooperative operation on the LCM strategy of the nested NS on the other hand, so that the LCM strategy of the composite NS is consistent with the LCM strategy of the nested NS forming the composite NS. The unified and cooperative management avoids the conflict among the strategies caused by respectively setting and managing the strategies in each management domain, improves the maintenance efficiency of the system, and ensures the reliability and the stability of the operation of the system. The technical solution of the present invention will be further described below by taking the composite NS architecture shown in fig. 2 and the NS healing strategy of each management domain as an example.

Fig. 3 depicts a flow diagram for creating a policy group based on the composite NS system architecture shown in fig. 2. The OSS in the graph takes on the functions of a policy decision entity; NFVO-1 is located in the composite NS management domain and takes on the functions of the policy enforcement entity of the composite NS management domain. S301, OSS sends request message for creating strategy Group to NFVO-1, said request carries basic description information (Group Descriptor) of created strategy Group, and identification information of each member strategy of said strategy Group is formed. Wherein the identification information of the member policy includes an LCM policy identification of one composite NS and one or more LCM policy identifications of nested NS constituting the composite NS. It should be noted that the identity of each member policy should be globally unique within the composite NS, i.e., should enable NFVO-1 to uniquely identify the policy. The numbering rule of the policy identifier is not in the technical scheme of the invention and is not described in detail. NFVO-1 receives the request message, allocates an identifier for the policy group, and records the corresponding relationship between the policy group identifier and the identifier of the member policy in the policy group. In step S302, NFVO-1 sends a create policy group response message to the OSS, where the message carries the identification information of the newly allocated policy group. The OSS records the identification, and then instructs NFVO-1 to execute the cooperative operation on the member policies in the policy group through the policy group identification. Taking the NS cure policies of the management domains as examples, the created policy group is NS cure policy group 1, which includes the following member policies { composite NS cure policy 1, nested NS-A cure policy 2, nested NS-B cure policy 3 }.

It should be noted that the creation of the policy group may be requested by the policy decision entity to create NFVO-1 by the method shown in fig. 3, or may be created by configuring the policy decision entity and NFVO-1 separately. In the case of creating a policy group by a configuration method, it is necessary to ensure that the policy group configuration data of the policy decision entity and the policy group configuration data of NFVO-1 are consistent, such as consistency of identification of the policy group and consistency of identification of the policies that are members of the policy group.

After the strategy group is created, the OSS may request the NFVO-1 to perform corresponding management operations on the member strategies in the strategy group as required, with the strategy group as a unit.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a strategy collaborative update performed on the NS healing strategy group 1 created in fig. 3 based on the composite NS system architecture shown in fig. 2. The OSS in the graph takes on the functions of a policy decision entity; NFVO-1 is located in the composite NS management domain, for OSS, undertakes the function of a policy execution entity of the composite NS management domain, for NFVO-2, the function of a proxy OSS and undertake the function of a policy decision entity, and issue a policy management operation request to NFVO-2; NFVO-2 is positioned in the nested NS-A management domain and takes charge of the strategy execution entity function of the nested NS-A management domain; NFVO-3 is located in the nested NS-B management domain and takes on the policy enforcement entity function of the nested NS-B management domain. As can be seen from the above description of the composite NS healing policy 1, the nested NS-A healing policy 2, and the nested NS-B healing policy 3, the NS healing policies of the composite NS management domain and each of the nested NS management domains associated therewith are inconsistent, and when A network fails, due to different decision conditions for performing NS healing by different management domains or different specific ways for performing healing, the device states of the composite NS management domain and each of the nested NS management domains may be inconsistent, for example, some management domains already meet the decision conditions of the NS healing policy, VNF instance migration has been already performed, and some management domains may not yet reach the decision conditions of the healing NS policy. This is likely to affect the composite NS as a whole to provide network services, or to perform lifecycle maintenance operations of network services as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to perform an overall updating or modifying operation on the member policies in the policy group, so as to ensure the consistency of the member policies.

Step S401: the OSS initiates a strategy updating request to NFVO-1, and the request message contains the identifier of the composite NS healing strategy 1, the identifier of the NS healing strategy group 1 and the strategy updating parameters. The parameters of the policy update include a policy execution condition or a policy execution action, for example, the condition that the NS is cured is "receiving a virtual resource failure alarm with a serious failure level", and the action that the NS is cured is "migrating a member VNF instance of the NS instance to other available standby virtual machines or available containers". It should be further noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the policy management operation request message sent by the OSS to the NFVO-1 may not carry the policy identifier of the composite NS, in this case, because the NFVO-1 has recorded the correspondence between the policy group identifier and the identifier of the member policy in the policy group in the process of creating the policy group, the NFVO-1 may obtain the identifier of the member policy in the policy group through the policy group identifier, where the identifier includes the policy identifier of the composite NS.

Step S402: NFVO-1 updates the composite NS recovery strategy 1 of the management domain, and returns a response of strategy update to the strategy manager, wherein the response message carries the result of executing and updating the composite NS recovery strategy 1.

Step S403: the method comprises the steps that NFVO-1 acquires LCM strategy identifications of nested NS in A strategy group according to the NS healing strategy group 1 identification received in the step S401, namely the identifications of A nested NS-A healing strategy 2 and A nested NS-B healing strategy 3, and then sends A strategy updating request message to NFVO-2, wherein the strategy updating request message comprises the identification of the nested NS-A healing strategy 2 and strategy updating parameters, and the strategy updating parameters are consistent with the strategy updating parameters received by the NFVO-1 in the step S401. It should be noted that NFVO-1 can subscribe to the information of the policy instances in the nested NS A and the nested NS B to NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 through the existing subscription notification mechanism, so that it can be known that the nested NS-A healing policy 2 and the nested NS-B healing policy 3 belong to NFVO.

Step S404: and the NFVO-2 updates the nested NS-A healing strategy 2 according to the received strategy updating request message and returns A strategy updating response message to the NFVO-1.

Step S405: similar to step S403, NFVO-1 initiates a policy update request message of the nested NS-B healing policy 3 to NFVO-3, where the request message includes an identifier of the nested NS-B healing policy 3 and a policy update parameter. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the policy cooperative management operation initiated by NFVO-1 to the management domains of the multiple nested NS forming the composite NS is not chronologically, that is, S403 and S405 are not chronologically, and this processing principle is also applicable to the messages in the following legend and is not described in detail.

Step S406: similar to step S404, NFVO-3 updates the nested NS-B healing policy 3 according to the received policy update request message, and returns a policy update response message to NFVO-1.

And after the NS healing strategies of the composite NS management domain and the two nested NS management domains are updated, the LCM strategy of the composite NS and the LCM strategy of the nested NS are consistent by uniformly updating the member strategies in the strategy group, and the updated strategies are as follows:

composite NS cure strategy 1: when NFVO-1 receives a virtual resource failure alarm with a serious failure level, it will migrate the member VNF instance of the composite NS instance (not containing member nested NS instances) to other available standby virtual machines or available containers.

Nested NS-A cure strategy 2: when the NFVO-2 receives a virtual resource failure alarm with a serious failure level, the member VNF instance of the nested NS instance will be migrated to other available standby virtual machines or available containers.

Nested NS-B cure strategy 3: when NFVO-3 receives a virtual resource failure alarm with a serious failure level, it will migrate the member VNF instance of the nested NS instance to other available standby virtual machines or available containers.

Compared with the scheme that the OSS initiates policy updating to NFVO-1, NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 respectively, in the scheme of the embodiment, the policy enforcement entity NFVO-1 of the composite NS management domain shares the workload of the policy decision entity OSS and serves as a proxy for policy collaborative management, on one hand, the policy of the management domain is operated, and on the other hand, the policy operation of the nested NS management domain is triggered, so that the policy management enforcement efficiency in the cross-management-domain composite NS scene is improved, and the consistency of the composite NS LCM policy and the nested NSLCM policy in the policy group is ensured.

It should be noted that after the policy update of the nested management domain in the policy group is completed, a notification message may be selectively sent to the OSS to notify the OSS of the result of the policy update of the nested management domain, where the notification message may be sent by NFVO-1 after step S406, or may be sent by NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 after the policy update of the nested management domain is completed, respectively. Certainly, the OSS may subscribe to the NFVO of the nested NS management domain through the existing subscription notification mechanism, and when the policy of the nested NS management domain is changed, the NFVO of the nested NS management domain sends a notification message to the OSS to notify the OSS of the change of the policy.

It should be further noted that, when the policy management operation request received by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain includes the identifier of the policy group, the identifier of the policy group may be used as an indication that the policy decision entity requires to perform policy management operation on the member policies in the policy group, and directly initiate policy management operation on the LCM policies of the nested NS in the policy group (for example, steps S403 to S406); whether to perform policy management operations on the LCM policies of nested NSs in a policy group may also be determined based on local policies.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the collaborative deletion of the member policies in the NS healing policy group 1 based on the composite NS system architecture shown in fig. 2. The functions of the functional entities in fig. 5 are the same as those in fig. 4, and are not described again.

The OSS sends a policy delete request message to NFVO-1 of the composite NS management domain in step S501, where the identity of the NS cure policy group 1, optionally, may also include the identity of the composite NS cure policy 1. The NFVO-1 deletes the composite NS healing strategy 1 of the management domain according to the request message, and sends strategy deletion requests to NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 respectively, the nested NS-A healing strategy 2 and the nested NS-B healing strategy 3 in the strategy group are requested to be deleted, and the nested NS-A healing strategy 2 and the nested NS-B healing strategy 3 are carried in the messages S503 and S505 respectively. The messages S503 and S505 are also not chronologically sequential.

After a policy is created, it will only really work when the policy is activated, and fig. 6 shows a schematic flow chart of the cooperative activation of the member policies in the policy group. The OSS collaboratively activates the member strategies in the strategy group through the NFVO-1 without independently sending strategy activation request messages to the NFVO-2 and the NFVO-3. Fig. 6 depicts a schematic flow diagram of performing policy co-activation for NS healing policy group 1 based on the composite NS system architecture shown in fig. 2.

Step S601: the OSS initiates a policy activation request to NFVO-1, which manages the composite NS management domain, requesting activation of a nested NS healing policy contained in composite NS healing policy 1 and NS healing policy group 1. The policy activation request command carries an identifier of a composite NS cure policy 1 to be activated and an identifier of an NS cure policy group 1.

Step S602: and the NFVO-1 of the composite NS management domain returns a response of the strategy activation to the OSS, and the response message carries a result of executing the activation of the composite NS curing strategy 1.

Step S603: the NFVO-1 of the composite NS management domain acquires A nested NS healing strategy identifier associated with the composite NS healing strategy 1 in the strategy group according to the received NS healing strategy group 1 identifier, and then sends strategy activation commands to NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 through steps S603 and S605, wherein the strategy activation commands carry the nested NS-A healing strategy 2 identifier and the nested NS-B healing strategy 3 identifier respectively.

NFVO-2 and NFVO-3 of the nested NS management domain return a response message of policy activation to NFVO-1 of the composite NS management domain through steps S604 and S606.

Similarly, the OSS may perform a cooperative policy deactivation operation on the policy group through the NFVO-1, as shown in fig. 7, the process is the same as that in fig. 6, except that the request and response messages in fig. 7 are deactivation request and response messages, and details of the specific message process are not repeated.

The policy decision entity may also delete a policy group that has been created by sending a delete policy group request to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain, as shown in fig. 8. In step S801, the policy decision entity requests the NFVO of the composite NS management domain to delete the policy group, and the request message carries the identifier of the policy group. The NFVO of the composite NS management domain deletes the record of the policy group of the local record, and returns a delete policy group response indicating the result of deletion by the policy decision entity in step S802. When the policy decision entity does not need to maintain the policy group, such as when the composite NS lifecycle is over, the process can be executed; or when the policy decision entity needs to update the member policies in the policy group, the member policies can be updated by deleting the policy group and then creating the policy group.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present invention is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is understood that each functional entity, such as OSS, NFVO-1, etc., contains corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing each function in order to realize the above functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software, with the exemplary elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

For example, the policy decision entity (such as OSS) or the NFVO-1 entity in the embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by a computer device (or system) in fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer device 900 includes at least one processor 901, a communication bus 902, memory 903, and at least one communication interface 904.

Processor 901 can be a general processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present invention.

Communication bus 902 may include a path that transfers information between the aforementioned components.

Communication interface 904 may be implemented using any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

The memory 903 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to these. The memory may be self-contained and coupled to the processor via a bus. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 903 is used for storing application program codes for implementing the present invention, and the processor 901 controls the execution. The processor 901 is configured to execute application program code stored in the memory 903 to implement the functions of the method of the present patent.

In particular implementations, processor 901 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 9 as an example.

In particular implementations, computer device 900 may include multiple processors, such as processor 901 and processor 908 in FIG. 9, for example, as an embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, computer device 900 may also include an output device 905 and an input device 906, as one embodiment. An output device 905, which is in communication with the processor 901, may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 805 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 906, which is in communication with the processor 901, may accept input from a user in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 906 may be a mouse, keyboard, touch screen device, or sensing device, among others.

The computer device 900 described above may be a general purpose computer device or a special purpose computer device. In a specific implementation, the computer device 900 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 8. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the type of computer device 900.

The embodiment of the present invention may also perform functional module division on the NFVO of the policy decision entity or the composite NS management domain according to the method example in the method embodiment, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one functional module. It should be noted that, the division of the modules in the embodiment of the present invention is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

For example, fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a policy decision entity involved in the above embodiments, which is used for performing functions related to the policy decision entity in all the foregoing method embodiments, and the apparatus 1000 includes a communication module 1001 and a processing module 1002.

The communication module 1001 is configured to send a request message to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain or receive a response message from the NFVO of the composite NS management domain.

The processing module 1002 is configured to generate a request message of a policy management operation, and send the request message through a communication module, where the request message of the policy management operation includes an identifier of a policy group.

In a possible implementation, the processing module 1002 is further configured to generate a request message for creating or deleting a policy group, where the request message for creating a policy group includes an identifier of a member policy of the policy group, and the member policy includes an LCM policy of one composite NS and LCM policies of one or more nested NS constituting the composite NS; the request message for deleting the policy group comprises an identifier of the policy group; and the server is also used for analyzing a created policy group response message of the NFVO from the composite NS management domain received by the communication module and recording the policy group identifier in the created policy group response message.

Fig. 11 shows a possible structural diagram of an NFVO of a composite NS management domain involved in the foregoing embodiments, for implementing NFVO-related functions of the composite NS management domain in all the foregoing method embodiments, where the apparatus 1100 includes a communication module 1101 and a processing module 1102.

The communication module 1101 is configured to receive a request message for creating or deleting a policy group from a policy decision entity, send a response message for creating or deleting a policy group to the policy decision entity, and receive a policy management operation request message sent by the policy decision entity.

The processing module 1102 is configured to parse a received policy management operation request message, determine, according to a policy group identifier included in the policy management operation request message, an identifier of an LCM policy of a nested NS included in a policy group, and generate a policy management operation request sent to an NFVO of a nested NS management domain, where the request message includes the identifier of the LCM policy of the nested NS.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication module 1101 of the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is further configured to receive a create or delete policy group request message from the policy decision entity, and is further configured to send a create or delete policy group response message to the policy decision entity; the processing module 1102 of the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is further configured to parse the received request message for creating the policy group, create the policy group locally, and assign an identifier to the policy group; the create policy group request message contains an identification of member policies of a policy group, the member policies including an LCM policy of a composite NS and LCM policies of one or more nested NS that constitute the composite NS; generating a response message of a request for creating a policy group and sending the response message to the policy decision entity through a communication module, wherein the response message of the policy group request contains an identifier of the policy group; the processing module 1102 is further configured to parse the request message for deleting the policy group received by the communication module, and delete the corresponding policy group according to the identifier of the policy group in the request message.

The above functional modules may be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of software functional modules. In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art may appreciate that the policy decision entity 1000 or NFVO1100 of the composite NS management domain may take the form shown in fig. 9. For example, the processing module 1002 in fig. 10 may be implemented by the processor 901 in fig. 9 calling a code in the memory 903, which is not limited in this regard.

The above-mentioned embodiments, objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention are further described in detail, and it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned embodiments are only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and the like made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention. In the claims, "comprising" once does not exclude other elements or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

1. A policy management method is applied to a scenario of providing a composite NS across management domains, wherein the composite NS (Network Service) refers to one or more nested NS, and the composite NS and the nested NS composing the composite NS are provided in different management domains; the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is responsible for the life cycle management of the composite NS, and the NFVO of the nested NS management domain is responsible for the life cycle management of the nested NS; it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the NFVO of the composite NS management domain receives a first policy management operation request from a policy decision entity, wherein the first policy management operation request comprises an identifier of a policy group;

the NFVO of the composite NS Management domain determines an identifier of an LCM (Life Cycle Management) strategy of the nested NS contained in the strategy group according to the identifier of the strategy group, and sends a second strategy Management operation request to the NFVO of the nested NS Management domain, wherein the second strategy Management operation request contains the identifier of the LCM strategy of the nested NS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain receiving a first policy management operation request from a policy decision entity, the method further comprises,

the NFVO of the composite NS management domain receiving a create policy group request from the policy decision entity, the create policy group request containing an identification of member policies of the policy group, the member policies including an LCM policy of one composite NS and LCM policies of one or more nested NS making up the composite NS;

and the NFVO of the composite NS management domain creates the policy group according to the request message for creating the policy group, allocates an identifier for the policy group and sends a response message to the policy decision entity, wherein the response message comprises the identifier of the policy group.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the NFVO of the composite NS management domain receiving a delete policy group request from the policy decision entity, the delete policy group request including an identification of a policy group to delete.

4. A method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the second policy management operation request is of the same type as the policy management operation requested by the first policy management operation request, and wherein the first or second policy management operation request comprises any of a policy management operation, a policy update, a policy delete, a policy activation, and a policy deactivation.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first policy management action request is a policy update request, the request further comprising parameters of a policy update, the parameters of the policy update being applied to member policies in a policy group.

6. A policy management method is applied to a scenario of providing a composite NS across management domains, wherein the composite NS (Network Service) refers to one or more nested NS, and the composite NS and the nested NS composing the composite NS are provided in different management domains; the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is responsible for lifecycle management of the composite NS; it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

a policy decision entity sends a first policy management operation request to an NFVO of a composite NS management domain, wherein the first policy management operation request includes an identifier of a policy group, the policy group comprises an LCM policy of one composite NS and an LCM policy of one or more nested NS forming the composite NS, and the LCM policy of the one composite NS and the LCM policy of the one or more nested NS forming the composite NS are member policies forming the policy group.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein prior to the policy decision entity sending the first policy management operation request to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain, the method further comprises,

the policy decision entity requesting the NFVO of the composite NS management domain to create a policy group, the create policy group request including the LCM policy of the one composite NS and the LCM policies of one or more nested NS that constitute the composite NS;

and the strategy decision entity receives a response message of a strategy group creation request sent by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain, and acquires and records an identifier distributed by the NFVO of the composite NS management domain for the strategy group.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the policy decision entity sending a delete policy group request to the NFVO of the composite NS management domain, the delete policy group request including an identification of a policy group to delete.

9. The method of any of claims 6-8, wherein the first policy management operation request comprises any type of policy management operation, policy update, policy delete, policy activation, and policy deactivation.

10. An NFVO entity of a composite NS management domain, applied to a scenario of providing a composite NS across management domains, the composite NS referencing one or more nested NS, the composite NS and the nested NS constituting the composite NS being provided in different management domains; the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is responsible for the composite NS lifecycle management, and the NFVO of the nested NS management domain is responsible for the nested NS lifecycle management; characterized by comprising a communication interface, a memory and a processor, wherein,

the memory for storing computer program instructions and an identification of a policy group, and an identification of a member policy contained in the policy group;

the processor, coupled to the memory and the communication interface via the bus, is configured to execute computer program instructions in the memory, that when executed, the NFVO entity of the composite NS management domain performs the method of any of claims 1-5.

11. A policy decision entity applied to a scenario of providing a composite NS across administrative domains, the composite NS referencing one or more nested NSs, the composite NS and the nested NSs that make up the composite NS being provided in different administrative domains; the NFVO of the composite NS management domain is responsible for lifecycle management of the composite NS; it is characterized by comprising:

a memory for storing computer program instructions and a policy group identification, and an identification of member policies contained by the policy group;

a processor, coupled to the memory and the communication interface via the bus, for executing computer program instructions in the memory, which, when executed, perform the method of any of claims 6-9.

12. A policy management system comprising the policy decision entity of claim 11 and the NFVO entity of the composite NS management domain of claim 10.

13. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method in relation to a policy decision entity as claimed in claims 6 to 9.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the NFVO entity-related method of a composite NS management domain as recited in claims 1-5.